by Mark Silva
Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign fundraising outpaced Sen. Hillary Clinton’s fundraising by two-to-one in March, according to the campaigns’ own accounting.
Obama’s March total: $40-million, following a record $55.4 million haul in February. Clinton’s March total, according to campaign aides: $20 million, following $34.6 million raised in February.
Obama already had more in the bank — about $30 million on hand to spend as of March 1, compared with about $11 million for Clinton. And he is using it — with the senator from Illinois outspending the senator from New York by three-to-one in Pennsylvania TV advertising.
The Obama campaign said it had received donations from more than 442,000 people last month, including 218,000 contributing for the first time. The total number of donors is now 1.3 million.
Obama, who has raised a reported total of $234 million, reached the $200-million mark faster than any other presidential candidate. In 2004, President Bush passed that mark in April, and that year’s Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, reached it in July.
“Sen. Obama has always said that this campaign would rise or fall on the willingness of the American people to become partners in an effort to change our politics and start a new chapter in our history,” campaign manager David Plouffe said in a statement.
“I’ll have enough money to compete,” Clinton told reporters in Burbank, Cal. ”Obviously, Sen. Obama has more than enough money to compete.”
Tribune wire services contributed to this report. Obama and Clinton photo combination, ABC News